PS 

2555 

ri4GS4 





UBRAF|¥) Of CONGRESS. 



-T-j — "jitaa" 



ShelJf M 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Xr 




.»#■ 



SHEAVES OF SONG 



BY 



/ 



v., 



7) MARION DELANA DANIEL l^M U 






V 



hid 'iX}'^^ 




BUFFALO 

THE PETER PAUL BOOK COMPANY 

1895 



4 



Copyright, 1895, 

BY 
MARION DELANA DANIEL 



PRINTED AND BOUND BY 

THE PETER PAUL BOOK COMPANY, 

BUFFALO, N. Y. 



TO MY MOTHER. 



CONTENTS. 

NATURE. 

PAGE. 

Nature 9 

Nature's Music lo 

To Manchester 12 

The Broken Wing 14 

Sunshine AND River 16 

To A Wild Rose 17 

The.Sensitive Plant 19 

Oak and Ivy 20 

Lilies 22 

Passion Song 23 

Nature's Jewels 25 

Death of the Sun 27 

LIFE. 

Life 31 

Two Voices 33 

Two Paths 35 

Transformed 37 

Violin Songs 39 

Music 41 

Saint Cecilia 42 

Satire OF the Ducks 44 

The Ideal 45 

Amen 4^ 

The Sleeping Rock 47 

Soul 49 

"Ships that Pass IN the Night" 51 

Oil OF Olive, Peace of Palm . 52 

Success 53 



CONTENTS. 
LOVE. 

PAGE. 

Love 57 

The Window of My Fancy 59 

Love's Rainbow 60 

Love's Aurora 61 

The Message 63 

On the Wings of Love 64 

Waiting 66 

Four-Leaved Clover 67 

Two Versions 69 

From Heart to Soul 70 

The Castle OF Clouds ^ 72 

Love's Retrospect 74 

Love's Vesper 75 

HEAVEN. 

Heaven 79 

My Song 81 

The Inner Robe 83 

Enoch 85 

The Valley of Baca 86 

God in Nature 87 

Through Death to Life 89 

I Dreamed and Saw an Angel Making 

Crowns 91 

Communion 93 

Recompense 95 

"Selah" 96 

Longing 97 

Satisfied 98 

The River of His Peace 99 

Crowned 100 



NATURE 



NATURE. 

^^ 'T^HE world a book," God's testament, 
1 A poem of the soul, 
Writ in the azure firmament 
On purple parchment scroll. 

The stars His thoughts, inscribed in gold, 
The silence chants His speech ; 

The secrets of His page unfold 
Themselves in Nature's reach ; 

The moon, the sun, their incense raise, 

Adoring Nature's King; 
The rocks His sermons, and for praise 

*' The stars together sing;" 

The sea, the sky, the smiling flowers. 

Evangels of His art, 
And e'en these human hearts of ours 

Portray the Writer's Heart. 



lO SHEAVES OF SONG. 



NATURE'S MUSIC. 



u 



PON the stones, 

Sweet organs in their reach, 
The water-sprites, upon the beach, 
Play Nature's thought and Poet's speech 
In music tones. 



Ill tender touch, 
Deep, regular and full of tone, 
Upon the keys of jutting stone. 
The chords of Nature, one by one. 

Their echoes couch. 

Sometimes in beat 
Of dashing spray, she plays the part 
Of passion-note, of bounding heart; 
Then sings her soul with slower start, 

In minors sweet. 

For viol strings. 
The whispering winds she deftly takes. 
And breathing low sweet tremors, wakes 
Pathetic pleading, passion-breaks, 

On music wings. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. II 

Till through the still 
Of woodland vistas, if you list, 
You catch the mystic music mist 
By golden light and zephyrs kiss't, — 

A breathing thrill ! 

But sweetest tone 
That Nature's music ever swells, 
She murmurs to the ocean shells 
In echoed chords, like chiming bells, 

The deeo sea's moan. 



12 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



TO MANCHESTER. 

ON the bosom of thy calmness, bear me, Rustic 
Dove of rest. 
To the deep and whispering shadows, 'neath some 
quiet, sunny crest; 

Lead me from the toil and tumult of the city's 
clang and din 

To the still and shady woodlands where stray sun- 
beams flicker in; 

To the cool and limpid waters strolHng past a 

mossy glade, 
Where the cow-slips and the daisies wander through 

the sylvan shade; 

Bear me to the rocky ledges, to a fern-draped 

brooklet's brink, 
Where the blushing rustic roses bend their rosy lips 

to drink; 

Where the pine and scented cedars kiss the air 

with fragrant breath. 
Where the weeping willows murmur o'er the early 

blossom's death; 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 1 3 

Waft me down the willow beaches, where the frog 

floats in his barge, 
Drums to nightingale's andantes on the moon-lit 

water's marge. 



14 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



THE BROKEN WING. 

A LITTLE bird, as blithe and gay 
As ever made the woodlands ring, 
Fell from his sky one fateful day. 

And broke his wing. 
So piteously he fluttered there, 

Upon the low and barren ground, 
While all his mates, on wing in air, 
He, earthward bound. 



All mute with pain and grief he lay, 

Deep listening to their distant song. 
Until the shadows 'cross his way 

Grew gray and long. 
No more he'd rise on soaring wing 

In freedom towards the smiling sky ; 
But might he tune his throat to sing 

New melody ? 

So, in his song of chastened tril), 
He poured his heart of memory ; 

His soul in cry in outward thrill 
Of harmony. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 1 5 

Till through the woods no song is heard, 

No winged bird will ever sing 
Like to the sweetness of the bird 

With broken wing ! 



1 6 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



SUNSHINE AND RIVER. 

RIPPLING, running, roguish river, 
Dimpling, dancing down the tide, 
Waltzing with a queenly quiver, 
Happy as the hours glide. 

Sunshine wooed thee, won thee, wed thee, 
Wary, winding, witching wave, 

Long he lingered, laughing, loving, 
In thy limped, lovely lave. 

Winged, winning, wilesome wooer, 

Braver, bolder in his bliss. 
Bore thee, blushing, on his bosom. 

Kissed thee with his kingly kiss. 

Then he queried, quarreled, quivered, 
Chid thee with a cunning chide. 

Till thou promised, pretty prattler, 
To become his beauteous bride. 

Now he sparkles, spangles, splashes. 

All thy bed a brilliant beam. 
Wreathing every ripple, ruffle, 

In a gliding, golden gleam. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 1 7 



TO A WILD ROSE. 

ONE day Cupid donned his armor, golden bow 
and silver wings — 
Wilesome weapons for his music — 'cross a maiden's 
viol strings. 

He would shyly touch and tune them with his golden 

bow of love, 
Tremor sofdy cross the fibres till a music motion 

move, 

Fill her ear with silver sounding of a timid, thrill- 
ing strain, 

Throb his dart in piercing sweetness through her 
heart with tender pain. 

He * * * 

Past a garden, fair and blooming where the maiden- 
roses wait. 

Some half-budding into blossom, some half-shat- 
tered, blooming late. 

Fleets the shining winged Cupid to a woodland's 

shady delves. 
Where the fairy forest flowers blossom shy as spirit 

elves, 



1 8 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

Near a folded bud of beauty, with a dewdroponher 

cheek, 
With her petals scarcely parted — lips asmile — too 

shy to speak, 

Nearer steals this wary wooer, with a ros}^, roguish 

rush, 
Kisses part the deu--wet petals, warms the wild 

rose with Love's blush. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 1 9 



THE SENSITIVE PLANT. 

ON a pathway, sheltered, lonely, sensitive and 
shy she dwelt, 
Pent within her burdened bosom all the tenderness 
she felt. 

Fairly fashioned, fond and fragrant, pinkly blushing 

into bloom, 
Sensitive this plant — too modest — hid her heart 

within a tomb. 

If a friend or pleading lover even touched her fin- 
ger tips, 

Instantly she'd droop and quiver, close her eyelids 
and her lips. 

Faintest footfall, touch or notice seemed to shatter 

all her nerve, 
Till by-passers left off coming, left her in her shy 

reserve. 

E'en her sisters, aunts and cousins, cowslips, daisies 

of the glade 
Shun her, gossip of her shyness, call her by her 

name— "Old Maid." 



20 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



OAK AND IVY. 

STAUNCH and strong in manly beauty, grew a 
lord in Forest Glen ; 
King encrowned among his comrades, distant, true 
his lofty ken. 

Proud his great, distended branches, sheltering shade 

to forest flowers, 
Courted by the graceful zephyrs, sunshine smiles 

and April showers. 

Unperturbed, majestic, tender, giving shelter, shade, . 

outspread 
To the maiden ferns and roses — which fair blossom 

will he wed ? 

:i: i^ :^ ^ 

See the Primrose, pale and sallow, jealous of the 
blushing bloom 

Of her younger Wild-rose sister ; see the Blue- 
bell's face agloom ! 

See the Violets shyly drooping, veiling meek their 

dew-dimmed eyes 
Just behind the maiden mosses ; see the Ivy's mute 

surprise. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 21 

Humbler than the fern and mosses, crouching lowly- 

on the ground ; 
Void of fragrance or attraction, dark and green and 

earthward bound. 

Ah ! the stately Oak divines her — all her tender- 
ness and trust — 

Twines her clinging arms around him, lifts her 
face from out the dust; 

Knows her constant, loyal duty, brave capacity to 

rise, 
If but smiled on, loved and cherished — knows her 

beauty never dies. 

Ah ! he loves her, lifts, inspires — and she finds in 

him her life. 
Beautified and beautifying — Sir Oak's loyal Ivy 

wife ! 



22 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 



LILIES. 

WE read of thee in sacred story, 
Reflections of God's face, 

Not ""Solomon arrayed in glory," 
Could match thy peerless grace. 

White-robed and fair in purity, 
With half-hid golden heart, 

Enshrined in virgin sanctity, 
Sweet emblems of God's art! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 23 



PASSION SONG. 

^^ rrOREVER, forever," she passionate sighed, 
1 " 'Mid posies of poppies my heart would 
abide, 
Where drifting and dreaming, sweet senses to steep, 
In crimson and scarlet and fancies of sleep. 



" Forever, forever, these colors I choose, 
The deep red of passion — the golden effuse 
Of yellow's effulgence, of all the gay gleams 
That dazzle and dance in ecstasy's dreams. 

" Forever, forever," ecstatic she cried. 
To rushes of water, of torrent and tide 
Cascading in rapture and beating their breast 
Against the stern granite with reckless unrest. 

' ' Aye, let me forever stay thrilled by the shock 
Of music-mad water quick kissing the rock. 
Of dashing and plashing and throbbing its tune 
In passionate pulses of ecstasy's swoon." 

" Forever, forever," enamored she sighed, 
** In waltz's weird measure, my being must glide, 
Let motions of music, bewild'ring and dense 
And tremor of touches bedazzle my sense." 



24 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

Forever, forever, to senses of sound, 
To shudders of sight, her being is bound, 
Till all the red tides of poppies enflood 
Her visions and dreams like rivers of blood. 

Till all the wide waves of passion endrown 
Her soul and her peace in tempest-tossed sound, 
While all the wild wail of waters ensweeps 
Her soul 'gainst the rocks of deep ocean deeps. 

Forever, forever, sharp, sensuous sweets, 
Sating and scathing, — too late — she entreats — 
The peace and the calm of her soul lying still — 
Murdered and buried by Passion's wild thrill ! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 25 



NATURE'S JEWELS. 

A JEWEL-CASE doth Nature hold, 
The emerald, chrysolite ; 
The topaz for her days of gold, 
And jacinth for her night. 



The chrysoprase and amethyst, 

And beryl for her skies ; 
The jasper red and pearly mist 

To paint her fair sunrise. 

SPRING. 

An emerald — a verdant hint 

Of springtime air and grace 
O'er earth and sky — the very tint 

Of woodlands in its face. 

SUMMER. 

And rich, in " sun-hlled rapture," shone 

The topaz golden, bright — 
Mid-summer sits upon her throne 

Above a sea of light. 



26 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



AUTUMN. 



Then shimmering down the chrysoHte, — 
The woods a burnished green — 

*' The day all gold, all pearl the night," 
While summer sleeps serene. 



WINTER. 



And last, a jacinth, purple skies 
Smile down on winter snows, 

And deep, deep Night shuts fast her eyes 
On Nature in repose. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 27 



DEATH OF THE SUN. 

1SAW him dying on his bed, 
A cloudy pillow for his head, 
His coverlet of amber-red. 

His curtains, canopies of light, 
Enfringed with borders, beryl bright, 
That gleamed against the walls of night. 

I watched him sink — the sun grown old— 
His touch did change each cloud to gold, 
And, dying, warmed the twilight cold. 

And where he might not reach, his smile 
Lit all the sky for many a mile, 
And let the world his light erewhile. 

This sunlit life, magnanimous. 
Reviving planets, generous, 
Methinks 'tis glory to die thus — 

Remembered in the days gone by, 

Reflected in the sunset sky. 

And mirrored in the moon on high ! 



LIFE 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 3I 



LIFE. 

COME, enter our land of forests and flowers, 
Bound in by the skies and the trees, 
The Island of Life — this earth-land of ours — 
Adrift on Eternity's seas. 

See myriads of forms enthronging the Isle, 
Youth, Happiness, dreaming their dream, 

Hark ! hear the sweet sound of music beguile 
Young Life fast fording the stream. 

See pathways that ope to great mountain steeps, 
Smooth rivers that lead to the seas ; 

See travelers, upon the deep ocean-deeps, 
Cross over to rest 'neath the trees. 

Ye stars in the heavens, ye planets, look down, 

Reveal us the myst'ries of Time, 
The shadowy past thy starlight did crown, 

Saw Life in her wonderful prime ! 

Ye infinite space, Eternity's reach, 

Pray, fathom Futurity's height, 
Light-houses of Hope burn bright on the beach. 

Or ships may sink in the night. 



32 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

Oh ! fathomless'Life, so high and so deep, 

Half visible, hidden with God, 
Descending thy depth or climbing thy steep, 

Weird windings will open untrod. 

Uprise thee and brave, thy footsteps traverse 
The domain of Death's silent realm, 

A Haven awaits in God's universe, 
Life-ship, withy aith at thy helm ! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 33 



TWO VOICES. 

TWO singing birds within her bosom dwelt. At 
morn 
A little lark uprises to the sky and trills 
His swelling note of ecstasy, deep, glad, free born; 
His heart breathed in his song, his bird-breast 
throbbing, thrills, 
Till in sweet unison her bosom bounds 
In joyous echoes to the matin sounds. 

Of rosy dawns, of misty morning skies, he sings ; 

Of all the beauty hid in glistening dews ; of mirth 
That bubbles up in fresh and varied founts, in springs 

Of sparkling thought whose bouyant bounty 
bathes the earth, 
Till wood and sky unite and mate the beams 
Of rising sun with dewdrop's rain-bow gleams. 

But with the vesper chime of thought, the dusk of 
eve. 
The tender cooing of a dove in hymns of peace. 
Uplifts her soul in holy harmony, doth weave 
A weird and wistful web around her heart, till 
cease 



34 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

The soft vibrations of more sensuous sweets — 
And all serene, her soul its silence meets. 

And, mutely musing in the sanctum of this calm, 
The "virgin passion of her soul" steals forth 
and sings 
The music of the moon, the song of stars, the balm 
Of tender thought borne upward on a dove's 
white wings, 
Till soul and heaven meet and blend the glow 
Of star-shine with the light upon her brow. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 35 



TWO PATHS. 

TWO woodland paths, one free and wide, 
Where sunbeams loved to play, 
Smiled on another at its side 
That in a shadow lay. 

Two angels looked beneath the skies, 

One smiled across the light, 
Two lives they blessed, but in one's eyes 

Tears dimmed the day to night. 

Across the radiant life there shone 

The topaz, golden bright, 
In '* sun-filled rapture," diamond stone, 

A sheen of matchless light. 

Till earthly pilgrims turned their feet 
Through it to heavenly heights, 

Where chrysoprase and amethyst 
Reflect a thousand lights. 

Across the next, a shade stole down 
And hung round heaven's shrine 

A gem of stars to softer crown 
The moon-stone's solemn shine. 



36 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

Till folded in the wings of Night 
Its chastened followers say : 

* ' The darkness shows us worlds of light, 
We never saw by day ! ' ' 

At last, each life lost in one sun, 
" Where flame and azure meet," 

In heaven where day and night are one — 
An opal pure, complete. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 37 



TRANSFORMED. 

FAIR and faultless as a statue, perfect in her out- 
ward mould, 
Lived a maiden pure as marble, with a heart and 
soul as cold. 

Crowned with homage, many worshiped blindly at 

her beauteous shrine, 
But beneath the ivory image, not one glimpse of 

life divine. 

All in vain the blended magic of her choice charms 

of art. 
Vain and blank, her breathless beauty touched no 

life and warmed no heart. 

Till the Sculptor, with his chisel, cut and carved his 
impress there. 

Breathing from his living presence through the pas- 
sage pulse of prayer. 

Day by day, the marble mirrored new reflections of 

his face, 
Shone the very light of heaven in her benedictive 

grace. 



38 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

For each pang of pain she praised him, loved his 

chisel and his rod, 
Transformed from the dust of beauty to the image 

of her God ! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 39 



VIOLIN SONGS. 

THE trembling, sobbing viol strings, 
Song-burdened, helpless little things- 
One music touch and Silence sings. 

The trembling breaks in music thrill, 
The sobbing, one long glorious trill, 
The silence in the heart's sweet still. 

Sometimes a plaintive violin sings 

As though the rusding of bright wings 

Touched not, but trembled 'bove its strings; 

As though some music in the air, 
Some echo of a sweet despair. 
Dropped in its heart and quivered there. 

I listen to the violin song, 

The pathos sweet, the passion strong, 

The cadence tender, low and long, 

And foncy that the bow that wrings 
Its swelling heart and tender strings 
Until soul music breaks and sings. 



40 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

May be the arrow in disguise, 

The gold-tipped dart, the strange surprise 

That oped and closed some paradise. 

And surer still that singing stream 
That melts away in misty gleam 
Is but the echo of some dream. 

Ah ! Silence, tell my sweet*surmise. 
This clear soul-song, the after rise 
Of morning star in Easter skies ! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 4I 



MUSIC. 

LIVING is music, if each beat of heart 
Be crystally pure and wedded with soul ; 
If each note of action, with true steady start, 
Blend chord and discord in one perfect whole. 



42 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



SAINT CECILIA. 

UNDERNEATH a western window, in the 
hush of even shroud, 
Ere the evening star rewakened on the bosom of 
the cloud, 

Sits a saint, in noiseless chamber, chaste as virgin 

on her knees, 
With her hands of ivory image on the organ's 

ivory keys. 

Stealing through the rich mosaic, in an arching, 

bending bow, 
Beams of beauty, blush and golden, crown her with 

their sunset glow; 

Touch her with a misty magic, heaven's glories 

from afar. 
Fold her in a fond reflection ; kiss upon her brow 

their star. 

Trembling there in blended brightness, on her fore- 
head as a crown, 

Sun and stars imprint their echoes, heaven's mes- 
sage wafted down. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 43 

Moved, but speechless in her rapture, seeing all 

Life's unseen goal, 
With her lids low-drooped, but open wide the 

portals of her soul. 

With the surge of silent music, hushed upon her 

parted lips. 
Echoed through her breathing beauty, tingling 

nerves and finger-tips. 

Ah ! the living voice within her, overwhelming 

spoken word, 
Speaks it meaning in the music of the echoed organ 

chord ! 



44 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



SATIRE OF THE DUCKS. 

SOME silly ducks stepped from a pond 
And left their star foot-prints, 
To counterfeit the stars beyond, 
T' eclipse the heavenly glints. 

So we do paint us gilded wings, 

As children play their part, 
Mistaking cheaper, finite things 

For poetry and art. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 45 



THE IDEAL. 

SHE climbed the range of mountain heights, 
She left the Land of Real, 
She bartered days for dreamy nights 
In search of Life's Ideal. 

But misty visions met her view, 

Along this '* Milky Way," 
And Fancy flickered for the True, 

Her footstep fell astray. 

Till turning from Delusion's dome — 

Her journey not in vain — 
She hears her Ideal's "Welcome Home" 

Within Life's lowly plain. 



46 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



AMEN. 

THERE was a little child whom God had made 
With beauty in her soul — and grave her face, 
Cast in a perfect mould, but sad with shade 
Of loss and suffering — and quaint of grace 
The shrinking, fragile form, till lone and shy, 
She lived all silently with down-drooped eye. 

She loved, with passion pent, but true and tense, 
All Beauty God had made — the sea, the sky, 

And fancies colorful, but dim and dense 
The distance ' tween her grasp and ecstasy. 

So feeling, loving all, but owning none. 

Life's sweet interpreter yet lived on alone. 

She sought the hidden paths, the silent ways, 
And let her inner soul grow pure and clear, 

Interpreting Life's nights more than its days. 

Ere listening for some voice she might not hear — 

Till tired of her tears, she kissed the rod. 

Reflecting in her own the face of God ! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 47 



THE SLEEPING ROCK. 

UPON a craggy mountain side 
By lazy suns enclosed, 
Through noiseless turns of time and tide, 
A rugged rock reposed, 

Asleep, apart upon the crag, 

Aloof from life and toil, 
To watch the wasting moments lag. 

The hopeful hours to spoil. 

A Sculptor climbed the mountain height, 
Descried the sun-crowned stone. 

Content to hide its beauty-light, 
To count its life its own. 

And quick the iron struck the rock 

Like lightening' s sudden start, 
That crushed and crashed with subtle shock 

The granite's sleeping heart. 

The powder thundered from its hold, 

The chisel cut and broke, 
The Sculptor-hand with purpose bold 

Dealt hard each needed stroke. 



48 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

Bespllntered, broken, shattered, shorn, 
The chastened granite groaned, 

Unsettled, rifted, left forlorn, 
In maddened memory moaned. 

Rebellion rose, as head-long hurled. 

It fell from its high dome, 
Its flag of hope forever furled 

Within its lowly home. 

Past memories rack the rifted rock. 

Then rose the mist of pain, 
Misunderstood each blasting shock — 

The chisel-touch in vain. 

Till lo ! erect upon the sands, 

Within its alien home. 
The Sculptor's perfect statue stands 

With heav'n-reaching dome. 

The heav'n-light crowns its peerless spire. 

And given eyes to see. 
Beholds its beauty, life entire, 

A stone to stand eternally. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 49 



SOUL. 

SHE wove her life of myths and dreams, 
Of fabrics made of rainbow gleams, 
A woof of crimson, warp of gold. 
Whose colors gay her stories told. 

But no lips smiled and no hearts wept, 
Within her life her soul still slept. 
Her heart untouched, untaught its speech. 
No other heart could touch or teach. 

She sang of shells and ocean sprays, 
Of purple nights and golden days. 
The twinkling heart-beats of the stars, 
But through her music blankness jars. 

A motion moves her idle heart — 
' ' My toils are dreams, my soul is art, 
For one warm heart-beat. Ah ! ' ' she sighs, 
"I'd give my gems of seas and skies ! " 

And Life comes close and hears her prayer. 
And Death her heart embalms with care. 
While to her lips their cup of pain 
Is pressed for her young soul to drain. 



50 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

Dark wine of life, it gurgles up, 
The blood of hearts, red in her cup. 
The dregs of death, the sighs of souls, 
A tide of mingled sorrow rolls. 

5=1^ 't* •1^ •F 

From out the furnace of their pain 
Her chastened lips would sing again, 
Her harp is heart, her song is soul, 
Her art is life and heaven its goal. 

Her prism shines with tender light 
Of human lives — their day and night — . 
And burning through her peerless art 
The after-glow of radiant heart ! 

Her harmony is sympathy. 

Her key-note touch vibrates with love, 
Her minor tones are melody, 

Her song the wide world's heart doth move. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 5 1 



SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT." 

THE day is done, the ships passed on, 
A lonely soul at sea. 
Its day has passed, its inissing mast 
Retreats in memory. 

But brave it wars, beneath the stars, 

The wrestling-, seaward wave, 
And hears again Life's " Might have been " 

Voiced in a watery grave. 

Fair vessels sail the ocean deep, 

Ships passing in the night, 
The lonely soul must wait and weep 

With friendly shores in sight. 

Hope- laden ships alight with love. 

Pass by to Happy Land, 
Faint voices echo, distant move 

Far down the far-off strand. 

Ah ! soul at sea, Eternity 

Holds all thy " Might have been," 
The stars shine down on thee a crown, 

Sink, but to rise again ! 



52 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



OIL OF OLIVE, PEACE OF PALM. 

SOMETIMES the surge of Life's unrest 
Sobs sharp, and sad, and sore oppressed, 
Like ocean murmurs through my breast. 

Swells strong and strange its seaward song 
Of passion, pity, pain and wrong. 
Till life is lone and loss is long. 

Then 'bove the sun and shade of earth, 
Beyond the sunset's golden girth, 
Some better being finds its birth. 

Its former Faith, its parent Pain, 
Its tutor Trust, its self-hood slain. 
And sweet its song as seraph's strain. 

And blessedness and bliss embalm. 
With oil of olive, peace of palm. 
My restless soul in restful calm. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 53 



SUCCESS. 

NOT he who boasts of bravest deeds, 
Of loudest vict'ry won ; 
Nor he, who, wise in worldly creeds, 
Life's fairest feats has done. 

But he who suffers pain and loss, 
Nor breaks his courage down. 

He sits upon a throne, his cross 
Transfigured to a crown ! 



LOVE 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 57 



LOVE. 

AH ! winged winds and floating mists, 
And shining waves by rainbows kiss't, 
Bear stilly down the lily stream 
To twilight Isle where lovers dream. 

Pause 'neath the shade of moss-hung trees, 
Where bird-song trembles on the breeze, 
Where pale, sweet moon, in virgin shroud, 
Sleeps on a golden summer cloud ; 

Where sunsets fade and leave the glint 
Of rainbow 'cross the blue sky tint. 
Where stealing through the clouds ajar, 
The tender shine of " Evening Star." — 

Here, on the Isle of Life, apart. 
Two, hand in hand, each heart to heart, 
Half-seen, through vistas lost in shade. 
Love wanders down the starry glade ; 

With silv'ry oar and golden barge. 
Glides smoothly down the mossy marge. 
Where skirts of light, and lily breath, 
Bright belt the stream in flower wreath ; 



58 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

Where faintest strains of music break 
The solitude to gentle wake, 
And all the senses sweetly move 
To music, moonlit dreams and love ! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 59 



THE WINDOW OF MY FANCY. 

5nniS diamond paned and ruby stained, 
i A mingle of mosaic ; 

'Tis closed by light but opes by night, 
And shuts out all prosaic. 

A blended dream of rainbow beam, 

A web of mystery ; 
A woof of bright and warp of light, 

A roseate fantasy. 

A net of hopes its shining opes, 

A timid ecstasy ; 
A silver barge upon a marge 

Of sweet expectancy. 

A minor chord, an echoed word, 

'Neath lover's canopy ; 
A bolden dart, a golden heart 

Of Cupid's armory. 

And, all in all, a sweet enthrall 

Of prodigality ; 
A wasted maze of silver haze — 

And no reality. 



6o SHEAA^ES OF SONG. 



LOVE'S RAINBOW. 

EAVEN bends her smiling skies 
For the lovers' canopies, 
Hangs above her shining mark, 
Promise to Love's drifting Ark. 

Brilliant arch of prism lights, 
Mingling suns and satellites ; 
Gold and silver, pink and blue, 
Shining sheen of rainbow hue. 

Blue, for Love's sincerity; 
Pink, for rosy ecstasy; 
Silver, for the silver line 
Turning every cloud to shine. 

Gold, to gild the lovers' dreams, 
Changing shadows into gleams; 
Violet, to lift their eyes 
To the fair, benignant skies. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 6l 



LOVE'S AURORA. 

YOUNG Life upon the threshold stands 
With laureled brow and flower-filled hands, 
Success and hope, rich, starry gems, 
Adorn her crown of diadems. 

With light, free step, she lingers long. 
Content to mingle with the throng. 
To pluck the blossoms at her feet, 
To place her urn 'neath fountains sweet. 

But day grows long and night comes down. 
And heavy grows the jeweled crown; 
The blossoms droop, the laurels fade, 
The sunshine pales to somber shade. 

Her poor heart sighs, her spirit pines. 
When lo! a presence radiant shines 
That floods her gaze with trembling light. 
Her sightless eyes with glorious sight. 

A Light to tinge each mystery 
With golden tint of ecstasy; 
A Voice to fill the solitude 
With music's sweetest interlude. 



62 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

A Touch to thrill her senseless sense, 
With strange vibrations, new, intense ; 
A Vision, vivid, mingling sweet 
Dismay, despair, delight complete. 

A transient Heaven here on earth. 
Where soul and being find their birth ; 
Where time and life and memory move 
In one eternal breath of love! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 63 



THE MESSAGE. 

WHITE winged dove oi poesy, 
Fly, a messenger for me, 
To my love across the sea. 

Ask eternal years to mark 
Countless moments that embark 
In Tune's ever floating ark. 

Bear so many thoughts for me, 
Ceaseless as eternity, 
Winged dove, across the sea. 

Ask the diamond drops of dew, 

To count the pearls — the varied hue- 

Of their jewel-casket through. 

Waft so many dreams for me, 
Winged dove of constancy. 
Kissed with seal of purity ! 



64 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



ON THE WINGS OF LOVE. 

Suggested by Heine's *'Auf Flugeln des Gesanges." 

ON the wings of love, heart's dearest, where 
all mystery is shrined, 
To the sanctum of soul's silence, where sweet 
secrets are divined. 

To the land of golden fancies, Nature's beauties, 

Art and Love, 
Where the bow of Dreamland dances from a starry 

arc above. 

Thence I bear thee to a woodland, verdant bloom- 
ing to the sky. 

Waiting stilly with the blossoms for thy footsteps 
coming nigh. 

Where the peeping blue-orbed violets mutely meet 

our gaze of love, 
Where the whispering wild blush roses through 

the forest shadows rove. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 65 

Where the laughing water waltzes with coquettish 
sprays of light, 

O'er a silv'ry, rocky pavement, far into the moon- 
lit night. 

There, beneath the bending willows, venturing to 

the water's edge, 
Whisper to the night our secret, to your heart my 

loving pledge ! 



66 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



WAITING. 

[NEVER saw his face, 
The face of smiHng Love, 
Yet, sure am I some day he'll come 
And all my being move. 

I never felt the thrill 

Of lover's temp'rament. 
Yet some strange day, my heart may fill 

With sweet bewilderment. 

I never heard the strain 

Of his great rhapsody, 
Yet, I am sure Love will explain 

To me his mystery. 

My years have come and gone, 

Yet, I am sure 'tis given 
The waiting heart to find its own — 

If not on earth — in heaven! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 67 



FOUR-LEAVED CLOVER. 

<"^i^WO, three, four," she counts them over, 
1 Love's quatrain of four-leaved clover. 
Wears the verdant, velvet petals 
Near her heart — her sweet requitals. 

' ' Two, three, four, true, he does love me, 
Sure as stars that shine above me — " 
Ah! the melting, madd'ning vision 
Of her happy heart elysian ! 

Footsteps following close behind her. 
He, in search of sweet reminder 
Of her vanished face and graces — 
Looks in woodland's shady places. 

Till he, too, enraptured lover, 
Plucks a velvet four-leaved clover, 
*'Two, three, four, — true, she will love me, 
Sure as stars that shine above me ! ' ' 

Faster falls his footstep, fleeter 
Than the steps of Signiorita, 
And his eyes of vivid vision. 
See across the fields elysian. 



68 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

''Two, three, four," their songs united, 
Two shy hearts the clover phghted, 
Since their badges and their songs 
Prove that each to each belongs — 

And just there in " Fields Elysian," 
Ceremonies in derision, 
Four-leafed clover, four lips rosy 
Blend, a single clover-posy ! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 69 



TWO VERSIONS. 

THE light of dreams shines in her eyes — 
Her heart perplexed 'tween smiles and 
sighs 

And aspirations deep. 
" Where Muses walk," she quotes him low, 
And puts a pause to passion's vow, 

' ' There, lovers needs must creep. ' ' 

The light of hope shines in his face, 
As in her lines his heart may trace 

Another meaning deep. 
" Ah! pretty maid, his lips afrown,^ 
Methinks your book is upside-down, 

Pray, take another peep." 

The roses paint her cheek and brow, 
While he, in turn, quotes to her now, 

His voice impassioned deep — 
*' Where lovers walk," his love is bliss — 
Her cheek and lips blush with his kiss — 

" Why, Muses needs must creep ! " 



yo SHEAVES OF SONG. 



FROM HEART TO SOUL. 

CLOSE beside a grave, a maiden lingers while 
the shadow's gloom, 
Lays her cherished hopes and passions in a cold 
and silent tomb. 

Change has robbed her of her idol, of her golden 

dream of love, 
Hushed the incry of her fancies, startled from its 

rest her dove. 

Once, she owned a heart of treasures, Love's soft 

sunshine 'round her hair 
Hung in halo crowns of glory, kissed her lips and 

bosom fair. 

Suddenly a Sculptor chiseled young Life's budding, 

blushing bloom 
From the flushing flesh to marble, hid her heart 

within a tomb. 

Through the vista ot the silence, like lost chords 

of Love forlorn. 
Wistfully she hears the music of her happy yester- 

morn. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 7 1 

As a statue 'neath the arches of the heaven's 

tender blue, 
Stands this modest maiden marble, pale and pure 

in pallid hue. 

Grief has touched, with chastened chisel, her up- 
lifted arms and face, 

Kissed each line and curve of beauty with pure 
lips of spirit grace. 

Hope shines through the earthly shadows, hope 

transmutes her pain to peace, 
Resurrected from the ashes of her heart, her soul's 

release ! 



72 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



THE CASTLE OF CLOUDS. 

BUILT a castle in the clouds, 
With weird and misty dome, 
A sepulchre of sacred shrouds 
For hopes without a home. 

For hearts that dreamed their dreams in vain, 

For chords of music lost, 
For cadences of patient pain, 

Fair visions ne' er recross' t. 

For ships that see their setting sun 

Sink ere they reach their shore, 
For songs that cease when scarce begun. 

For lives that sing no more. 

For love whose wings have touched the gate 

Of highest paradise 
To find it closed, its coming late, — 

For all lost memories. 

Within this temple in the clouds, 

Lost treasures of the heart 
Lie smiling, in their virgin shrouds. 

From all the world apart. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 73 



Shine softly suns above the place, 
Transformhig dome and spire, 

And lorn Dian with vigil face 
Touch with thy holy fire 

The turrets of this still domain, 
Till Time shall fade away, 

Till all the lost shall rise again 
On Resurrection Day. 



74 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



LOVE'S RETROSPECT. 

WHEN the dying day is done, 
In the wane of setting sun, 
Sitteth one in twilight dun, 
Singing sadly, softly, low, 
Of Life's sunset's fading glow 
In Love's tender Long Ago. 

When the reapers garner sheaves, 
When the golden autumn trees 
Flame and drop their falling leaves, 
Sings again the same refrain, 
Through a silver mist of pain. 
Of fading leaf and sobbing rain. 

Watching still the closing year 
With the night-winds wailing drear, 
And the moonlight cold and clear, 
Sings, once more, the echoed chime 
Borne along the tide of Time 
Of eternal love sublime. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 75 



LOVE'S VESPER. 

ABOVE the Isle of Love, at last, 
When starry dawns and suns have passed, 
Love's vesper-star — soft after-glow — 
Breaks on the waiting hearts below. 

Its shine is tender, clear and calm 
With less of thrill but more of balm, 
Serene reflection in each heart 
Of Life and Love ere they must part. 

Love purified and chastened sweet 
To purest gold through furnace heat; 
Love glorified with holy fire, 
The music of celestial choir. 

No passion-gust to dim or mar 

The spirit light of vesper-star; 

No storm-tossed hopes to break the poise 

Of souls attuned to sacred joys. 

Shine soft and still, pale star of Age, 
Best benedictions on Love's page. 
And beckon to thy sky-lit dome — 
While heart's sweet mem'ries gather home ! 



HEAVEN. 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 79 



HEAVEN. 

COME, sing- of a land — the "Land of the 
Sky—" 
With only a River between 
To hide the fair haze, the sweet mystery 
Of heaven and glory from men. 

No vision or trance — Reality shines, 

Surpassing the glory of star, 
A halo of gems above the gold lines 

That stream from the Gates swung ajar. 

Neath arches of light, the mazes and mist 

Blend beryl and jacinth and gold, 
Where sapphire and pearl and pure amethyst 

Interpret all Beauty untold. 

Deep vistas of shade, enfringing the aisle 

Of rivers that lead to the throne. 
Where Silence and Awe meet — waiting God's smile 

That welcomes to heaven His own. 

Soft echoes of harp trill trembles of peace. 

Till Silence and Music are one, 
While spirits, transformed in blessed release, 

Bright image His glorious Son! 



8o SHEAVES OF SONG. 

Sweet Spirit of Song, thy bosom doth keep 

All music and myst'ry and bliss; 
All heaven transport in one thrilling sweep, 

All silence in one holy kiss. 

Touch tenderly harps, while ecstasy shines 
Its radiance on flowers and streams, 

Till vividly clear in gold, shining lines 
Are written lost visions and dreams. 

Fair City of Light, of cedar and palm, 
There, Beauty and Love find their goal ; 

There, clear, cooling springs and breezes of balm 
Await in the Home of the Soul! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 



MY SONG. 

LORD, speak Thy message to my soul and let 
me sing- 

A song for Thee; 
My life Is poor and blank, a paltry, perished thing, 
O, live In me. 

I have no human gifts, no earthly hopes of joy. 

Accept me Lord; 
Bequeath this gift of song as means In Thine em- 
ploy 

To speak Thy word. 

And, if in school of grief. Thou deem It wise to 
train 

My voice for Thee, 
Through losses and defeat and passages of pain, 

There, Lord, lead me. 

Through climbing mounts of toil with just enough 
of hope 

To bid me rise, 
Through narrow valley shades, just dim enough to 
ope 

The starry skies ; 



82 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

Through pastures green, or barren field, my soul 
to teach 

Thy training skill, 
Through loss or gain — the valley depth, or moun- 
tain reach, 

O, work Thy will! 

And then, from all my gleanings. Lord, I'd yield 
to Thee 

One chastened word. 
Oh, let it be from earth-stain washed, from dross 
all free, 

Thy flaming sword 

To probe the hearts of flesh, to touch, to burn with 
breath 

Of holy fire, 
To lift immortal souls thro' grave of mortal death 
To life entire! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 83 



THE INNER ROBE. 

IT speaks of Thee, Thy cleansing power, 
Thy righteousness, 
This robe — the Christian's heavenly dower, 
His blessedness. 

Lord, shield it from all earthly taint, 

En veil me o'er, 
Enfold me in Thy strong restraint. 

Behind, before. 

And lead me in the shining lines 

Of purity, 
In path that sweetens and refines 

My chastity. 

Let naught of look or tone impart 

A sordid trace, 
No barrier between my heart 

And Thy fair face. 

Naught that I read, or think, or glean 

In Beauty, Art; 
May Thy white Image ever screen 

The hidden part. 



84 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

Oft I must walk 'mid earthly glare, 
Lend me Thine eyes 

To see whatever things are fair 
In human guise. 

Then bid me know the chaff from wheat- 
Yet, not to know — 

To keep my robe as fresh and sweet 
As " unsunned snow." 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 85 



ENOCH. 

GOD made a life with soul too high 
For this poor earth to satisfy, 
A heart with yearnings too intense 
To fili its depths with earth's pretence. 

The love of friends — aye, kindred seemed 
But shadow-types of all he dreamed, 
He sought a silent path and trod 
A life apart, alone with God. 

He lives, yet dwells not on this earth. 
He claims his heritance and birth, 
His Home beyond Death's bed of sod. 
This dual life that walked with God. 



86 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



THE VALLEY OF BACA. 

DARK valley-depth, still, stagnant stream, 
With weeping-willow trees, 
Weird solitude and shadow-dream 
That haunt like moaning seas. 

Hush, hear the voice of Sorrow speak, 

The silent voice of God, 
Each subtle sound and semblance seek. 

Lean on the chastening rod. 

Lo, clear well-springs in desert place — 

Abloom the ashen dell— 
The valley wears a smiling face, 

My soul, " make it a well." 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 87 



GOD IN NATURE. 

1 GAZED upon a lofty mount, 
The stones that stud its pages, 
The time-worn strata that recount 

Its dynasties for ages, — 
When spoke a voice to Nature known, 

Despite the creed of sages, 
'' Geology, thy corner-stone, 
Itself, the 'Rock of Ages.' " 

I looked across the blooming wold 

Of brightly waving posies. 
And learned the flower-secrets told 

By golden-hearted roses — 
While echoed in my soul, half hushed. 

This voice of melody, 
''Within the ' Rose of Sharon,' blushed 

The bloom of Botany." 

Beneath the heaven's starry scroll, 
I watched the stars' slow passage, 

Their bright handwriting on the wall. 
Their silent, heavenly message; 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 

" Astronomy, pale Venus, Mars, 

Your brightest diadem 
Encrowns all satellites and stars 

' The Star of Bethlehem.' " 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 89 



THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE. 

N angel wrestled with my heart, 
He claimed all human bliss, 
I suffered — died — and watched depart 
The rosy touch of Love and Art, 
All hopes poor earthlings miss ! 

And, then, I paused in wonder start, 

No will I'd had but mine, 
Till now I prayed with deepest heart, 
Lord, here am I, alone, apart, 

No more mine own, but Thine. 

** My child," the Voice was low and sweet, 
*' Now is all fulness thine, 
Lie still and lowly at my feet. 
Until the workmanship's complete 
And all thy will is Mine." 

He oped my eyes, and then I saw 

A glorious Hope and Love 
Transformed in Him, unflecked with flaw ; 
My buried life, in upraised awe, 

P.ose as a winged dove. 



90 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

And for the loss of earth He gave 

The recompense of Heaven ; 
For human hope, His hope ; for grave, 
Eternal life — Himself to save 
When self from self was riven ! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 9 1 



I DREAMED AND SAW AN ANGEL 
MAKING CROWNS. 

I DREAMED and saw an angel making crowns — 
An arc of gold beset with gems — 
And weaving fair and bright seraphic gowns, 
All glistening with diadems. 

Some saintly soul to wear the robe, some brow 
To claim the priceless, star-gemmed crown. 

But, angel, pause and tell me where and how 
The glory comes for gem and gown. 

''These robes," she said, *'are Christ's own 
righteousness — 

Made of the ransom He provides. 
But, these fair diadems," with sweeter stress. 

She speaks, while pointing 'neath the skies, 

" These diadems, these jewel-jets are made, 

Not from the gloss of angel's wing. 
But from the smile of souls amid earth's shade — 

From souls they win — from gifts they bring. 



92 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

These little gems you see in clustered light, 
That shine as dew-drops 'gainst the glow, 

Are tears of pain and penitence through night 
Of wrestling souls with sin and woe. 

" Some jewels shine for other souls they've won, 

A myriad arc of smiles and tears, 
But, 'bove the starry-stones, the summit's sun — 

The fairest gem this image wears, 

' ' The image of a smile caught from a soul 
Passed under Pain's most chastening rod. 

When all its utmost done and missed its goal, 
It lifts its face and smiles toward God ! " 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 93 



COMMUNION. 

ON the wings of prayer, departed, where all 
sanctity doth bloom, 
To the silence of His Presence, when the shades of 
evening gloom ; 

'Neath the tender twilight heavens where the stars 

are shining down 
On us, meeting in communion, all their chastened 

halo crown ; 



There, I find thee in this sanctum, set apart for 

kindred hearts. 
Where the music-voice of heaven all its restfulness 

imparts ; 

Where the presence of His Spirit wraps our spirits 

twain in one. 
Where His Love and Light and Glory meet in 

one effulgent sun ; 

Where all pain and grief transmuted, where all loss 
is counted gain, 

Where discordant harps are softened to submis- 
sion's sweetest strain ; 



94 SHEAVES OF SONG. 

There, in spirit thought communing of the holy joys 

above, 
Triune souls, we with the Saviour, in one will, one 

life and love ! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 95 



RECOMPENSE. 

THE caterpillar murmurs much 
When first he feels the forming touch 
That would transform the clumsy thing, 
A butterfly with gilded wing. 

So our hearts do sigh and break 
If God our human angels take, 
In wise and loving discipline. 
To bring the great archangels in ! 



96 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



''SELAH." 

THE Psalmist harped of music, love, 
And sang of passions sad and sharp, 
But grandest strains in silence move 
Beneath the " Selah of his harp." 



The Poet pours his prayer of song 
In thrilling voice, divinely fair, 

But noblest throbs of thought belong 
Beneath the Selah of his prayer. 

Great Nature speaks her mirth and pain 
In joyous breeze and sobbing rain, 
Her highest voices breathe and brood 
Within the Selah of her mood. 

And may not God in solemn still 

Breathe tenderly in awe-hushed chords, 

Revealing silently His Will 

Beneath the Selah of His Words ? 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 97 



LONGING. 



MY loving heart craves deepest love, 
My spirit seeks to rise, 
My better self, my soul would move 
To love that satisfies. 



No human bliss, no tender tie, 

No idol to bedim 
The shining peace and unity 

My soul would find in Him. 

So take me. Lord, and make me Thine, 

And let me reach in Thee, 
The glory of a love divine, 

Enough of joy for me. 



98 SHEAVES OF SONG. 



SATISFIED. 

TO know and see Thee as Thou art, 
Thy glory and Thy grace, 
To feel Thee near me, heart to heart, 
To see Thee face to face. 

To feel Thy fulness In my soul, 

The Spirit's holy thrill. 
The anchor of Thy safe control, 

The sweetness of Thy will. 

To know the riches of Thy love. 

The satisfying glow, 
No other joys my heart so move, 

No higher good to know ! 



SHEAVES OF SONG. 99 



THE RIVER OF HIS PEACE. 

ON-ROLLING tide of Promises, 
Smooth-shining stream serene, 
Mute in thy smihng mysteries, 
God's Image in thy sheen. 

There let me float in restfulness, 

My soul in sweet release, 
Stayed on His loving mindfulness. 

Lost in His ' * perfect peace. 

No wrestling wave, no tempest sound. 
No storm-tossed, sobbing noise, 

No resdess hopes of hearts earth-bound, 
To mar the music poise. 

Float on my soul, attuned, at rest, 
Where peace and calm ne'er cease, 

Serene and pillowed on the breast 
Of God's unchanging Peace. 



lOO SHEAVES OF SONG. 



CROWNED. 

ESTRANGED, apart, a stranger-guest, 
Of lowly birth, 
Misunderstood, unknown, unblest, 

A soul on earth — 
With heartaches sore, with missing links 

From out Life's chain. 
Of many bitter cups he drinks. 
Of loss and pain. 

Till heaven smiles and bids him rise 

On spirit wing — 
Congenial souls in Paradise 

His praises sing — 
For lonehness, for dearth, for loss, 

They, stooping down. 
Receive him lowest at the cross 

To highest crown ! 




015 762 697 8 (§ 



